Blog

30 October is an important date for the Cham people. It is the date of the establishment of the Republic of Chameria. Today, 30 October 2018, marks the second anniversary of the declaration of independence and it is therefore another milestone in the history of Chameria.

Since its declaration in 2016, the president of Chameria, and his government advisors and partners, have rolled out a large number of government services and have started numerous international political activities.

The second anniversary of the declaration of independence was celebrated in many places where Cham people reside. There were parades in various cities in Albania and Kosovo and the main event in the Netherlands, in which the president addressed his people directly, was broadcast live and seen by a large part of the Cham community.

In the past year the president has met many of the world’s leaders and was able to inform them of the plight of the Cham people. He has met with all the leaders of the major European political parties; the presidents of the Liberal Party, the Socialists and Democrats and the European Peoples Party. He also met the Secretary General and the president of the European Parliament. On all those occasions he was able to inform them about the Cham situation. Something they did not know before, but they were very open to help solve the long forgotten struggle of the Cham.

The president, his assistents and government officials also frequently visited the European Parliament and participated in meetings and conferences when it was useful for getting the Cham issue on the political agenda. The president is the first person to publicly raise the Cham issue in the European Parliament and was able to get a resolution in a report by the European Parliament.

The president travels frequently to many European capitals to ask for support and in the past year has expanded his international political network exponentially.

Furthermore, there has been intensive contact with the European Commission about the Cham issue. It gained importance by the launch of the Western Balkans Strategy of the European Commission in February 2018. The president also met with Commissioner Johannes Hahn and the vice-president Frans Timmermans.

President Festim Lato and the various speakers also described the planned activities of the Republic of Chameria as well as the grand vision for the Cham people to live in peace and freedom in Chameria.

The various speakers included prime-minister Ali Aliu, author and Chamerian minister Rrustem Geçi, well known academic Elena Koçaci, historian Koço Danaj, representative of the Presjeve region Redzep Abazi, UNPO representative Lucia Parucci and Diplomat and assistent to the president Jeroen Zandberg.

Following the various speeches president Festim Lato and the Prime-minister Ali Aliu inspected a team of UÇÇ rebels in an official military ceremony, which concluded the succesful event.